Are Some Over-reacting to Katy Perry’s 2014 Grammy Performance?

Katy Perry’s performance for the Grammy’s this year has garnered both attention and controversy. While some defend the performance as a playful act, others have gone as far as to claim that it was occultist in nature and that Perry was invoking demons in her performance. This begs the question, are some people overreacting?

First, we must look at the lyrics of the song in question. “Dark Horse” is a fairly generic modern pop song about romance. Some of the lyrics are suspect, but no more than many songs of the same nature from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. These “oldies” have dealt with occult lyrics for decades, and in many cases going much further than Perry. While many of them are also better than this song, please compare The Doors “Wishful Sinful” as a pretty decent comparison of generic magic romance song lyrics in modern and “oldies” pop music. In general, the lyrics themselves are fairly tame in terms of occult material (though still pretty smutty).

So it’s not the lyrics. Let’s take a look at the performance itself.  The performance begins with Perry in a crystal ball prop with some dancers gyrating around in black cloths. Halfway through, red LED’s light up on Perry showing a cross like symbol of some sort. The symbol could be anything, though nothing I’ve seen has led me to what it actually is. She later “speaks” to a set of props that combine into a dark horse that separates to reveal…a rapper in a suit. Nothing really occult about that; no hoods, cloaks, or robes. 

The rapper, “Juicy J” begins rapping while Perry and some female dancers pole dance on “broomsticks”. It ends with the stage being set on fire with Perry “burning” at her broomstick while some mannequins create black, “evil” figures on the back of the stage. This is perhaps the most questionable part of the performance. While it was disconcerting from a religious perspective, it more seem like a failed attempt from the producers of the performance to have a bit of allusion to the song. This is nothing new in terms of music. Music videos have done this for years, and far more blatantly occult influenced than this. 

Was the performance vulgar? Yes. Was the performance distasteful? Yes, but far less than the rest of the smut that night. Would anyone have batted an eye had this been done in October for Halloween? Not one bit. Those who are concerned about the tastefulness of the act are valid in their concerns. Those who wonder about Perry’s connections to the occult may have some fodder. However, those who feel that Perry is a member of secret societies and was summoning on stage are completely unfounded. I do not mean to defend the act one bit, nor do I like or condone the imagery. However, the claims being made are growing more absurd by the moment. To answer the initial question; yes, people are completely overreacting to what was a generic performance for a generic song.